Grip for golf clubs and the like



March 10, 1959 A. J. TURNER ,0

GRIP FOR GOLF CLUBS AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 21. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

March 10, 1959 A. J. TURNER 2,877,018

GRIP FOR GOLF CLUBS AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 21, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG? 6 IN V EN TOR.

flmhz'bald J Turner mat M fiiiornkg United States Patent GRIP FOR GOLF CLUBS AND THE LIKE Application February 21, 1956, Serial No. 566,941

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-814) This invention relates to grips for golf clubs and the like, and more particularly to such a grip which not only aids in teaching the proper gripping of the club to a user, but serves as a present reminder and locater for the gripping portions of both of a players hands whenever the club is used.

One of the most basic steps in learning to play good and consistent golf is to learn the proper manner of gripping the clubs. Such proper gripping of a club not only includes the determination and maintenance of the position of the club rotationally within the hands, but also the proper placement and direction of the fingers of both hands. It has been found by professional teaches that this very fundamental step of assuming the proper grip on a glub has been very difficult to teach, and that improper" gripping of the clubs is very commonly a basic cause of playing a poor or mediocre game. 1

It is a general object of this invention to provide a gri for golf clubs and the like which serves as an aid in teaching the correct gripping positions of the hands on the clubs and then acts as a present reminder and guide for continuing the use of the gripping position of the hands.

My invention particularly has within its purview the provision of a grip for golf clubs and the like which has face areas thereon that serve as guides and locaters for establishing the correct positions of the fingers of'a players hands, as well as preventing the club from turning in the hands without having a strained or forced grip on the club. i

Another object of this invention is to provide a grip for golf clubs and the like which tends to induce the correct placement of a players hands and fingers on the club, and thereby promotes the correct positioning of the players arms and elbows when addressing the ball for a stroke.

As a further object, this invention comprehends the provision of a grip for golf clubs and the like which serves as a guide for correctly gripping the club for the half shots, short pitches and chip shots, as well as for normal or longer shots.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the two sheets of drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view showing the grip portion of a golf club which embodies a preferred.

form of this invention and which indicates in-dot-and-dash lines the positions of a players hands for gripping the club;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view-of a grip of the type illustrated in Fig. 1, with the outer wrapping or covering material removed from the grip and indicated only by dot-and-dash lines to show the contour determining portion of the grip;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a complete club having a grip of the type shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

2,877,018 Patented Mar. 10, 1959 Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 and illustrating a modified form of my grip; 1

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of a golf club having a grip of the type depicted in Fig. 1 and wherein the view is taken substantially as indicated by a line 5--5 and accompanying arrows in Fig. 1;

Figs. 6 and 7 are end sectional views which are respectively taken substantially at positions indicated by lines 6-6 and 7-7 in Fig. 1 and as indicated by accompanying arrows; and

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are views similar to Figs. 5, 6 and 7 respectively, but depicting the sectional contours of the'modified grip which is illustrated in Fig. 4.

Although the exemplary embodiments of my invention which are depicted herein for illustrative purposes show the adaptation of my grip to golf clubs which are commonly known as irons, it is to be understood that the disclosed grips are also adapted to use on the clubs which are classed as woods." Also, the grips of the types herein disclosed are adapted to use on either left or right handed clubs by. suitable shifts of the positions of certain surface portions of the grips, as will become apparent from the following description.

As depicted in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a golf club 12 has a shaft 13 with a head portion 14 secured to one end of the shaft through a hosel 15 which is integral with the head. At the other end of the shaft, a grip 16 is provided, which grip has a length suflicient to permit the player to select the effective length of the club in making dilferent types and lengths of shots. The head portion 14, of course, has a ball striking face 17 on its forward surface.

,When' a player addresses a ball, preparatory to making a swing with the club, the plane of the ball striking face of the head portion of the club should be normal to the intended path of travel of the ball, and the club should be gripped to maintain that relationship through the swing. The positions of the hands, and particularly of the thumbs of both hands, are of importance in the establishment and maintenance of the proper relationship of the position of the club head with respect to the ball during the swing. The disclosed grips have been developed not only to eliminate turning of the club grip within the hands upon impact of the head portion of the club with the ball or as a result of slippage during the swing, but also to aid inthe selection of positions of the players hands, thumbs and fingers which have been found by experience to be bestadapted to accuracy and consistency of play.

As depicted in Fig. 2, a golf club grip embodies a filler element 18 which is secured to the end portion of the shaft opposite the head and extends throughout the length of the grip. This filler element may be made of various suitable materials, such as paper, molded rubber or a In the grip shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, three relatively flat surface portions 23, 24 and 25 are provided on the exterior of the filler element 18 which otherwise has generally round sectional contours. surface portions 23, 24 and 25 extend longitudinally or the grip from positions near the shaft end thereof and are of different lengths. The club illustrated is for use by a right handed player, as indicated in Fig. 1, and in this instance, different portions of the relatively flat sur- A metal ferrule 20 is generally used to cover.

The relatively flat' face 23 serve two purposes. As illustrated, the relatively .7

flat surface 23 extends to the free end of the grip and a portion 26 which is near the free end of the grip serves as a locater for the palm of the left hand of the user. Also, another portion of the relatively fiat surface 23 which is below the portion 26 serves as a locating surface or guide for the placement of the thumb of the right hand of the user. The positions of the hands along the grip will vary, as previously indicated, depending upon the effective length of the club which the player may choose to utilize for making a particular shot. However, regardless of this longitudinal variation in the positions of the hands, the players hands are still kept in closely interlocked relation ship, as indicated in Fig. 1, and the relatively fiat surface portion 23 serves as a guide or locating surface for the palm portion of one hand and the thumb of the other hand.

The second relatively fiat surface portion 24 is shorter than the relatively fiat surface portion 23, so as not to disrupt the rounded grip portion near the free end of the grip, and serves as a guide or locating surface for the thumb of the players left hand. In normal gripping of the club, it is gripped first with the left hand by placing the palm portion of that hand against the upper portion 26 of the fiat surface portion 23 and placing the thumb on the upper end portion of the relatively flat surface portion 24. Before the grip of the left hand is tightened, it

is usual and preferred practice to interlink the index finger of the left hand with the little finger of the right hand. After this is accomplished, the right hand is brought to a position such that the end portion of the right thumb rests against the relatively flat surface portion 23. With the hands in these positions and somewhat overlapped, as shown in Fig. 1, the side of the index finger of the right hand rests against the relatively fiat surface portion 25. For making shorter pitch or chip shots and the like, the hands are moved downwardly along the grip with the thumbs and other portions of the hands engaged with the various relatively flat surface portions of the grip, as previously described.

As shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, and as may be observed by correlation of those views with Figs. 1 and 2, the relatively fiat surface portions 23, 24 and 25 not only extend different distances along the grip from the shaft end thereof, but are also adjacent one another circumferentially of the grip. The planes of the relatively fiat surface portions 23 and 24 intersect in obtuse angular relationship with the vertex at the intersections of the planes pointed generally in the direction in which the ball striking face of the club head projects from the shaft portion of the club. The relatively fiat surface 23 has angular components extending in the direction of the projection of the ball striking surface from the club shaft and also forwardly with respect to the ballstriking surface of the head portion, while the relatively fiat surface portion 24 has angular components which extend in the direction of the projection of the club head from the shaft and also rearwardly with respect to the ball striking surface of the head portion. The planes of the relatively fiat surface portions 24 and 25, as shown in Fig. 7, intersect in obtuse angular relationship, and the relatively flat surface portion 25 faces generally in a rearward direction with respect to the ball striking surface of the head portion. The described surface positions are for a right handed club, but it may be readily understood that the reversal of the direction of the ball striking face for a left handed club will effect reversal of the order of the positions of the respective relatively fiat surface portions, while main,- taining the same general relationships of those surface portions to the direction of projection of the head por tion from and shaft and with respect to the ball striking face of the head portion. The positions of the hands would, of course, be reversed for utilizing a left handed club.

In the modified form of my grip which is depicted in Figs. 4, 8, 9 and 10, reference numerals similar to those previously used refer to like parts which perform corresponding functions. It may be observed by comparison of the two types of grips which are illustrated that the grip depicted in Figs. 4, 8, 9 and 10 has only two relatively flat surface portions, while the grip illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 embodies three. Also, each of the relatively flat surface portions of the grip shown in Fig. 4 terminates below the free end of the grip. In its angular relationship to the direction of projection of the club head from the shaft and to the ball striking face 17 of the club head portion, a relatively flat surface portion 27 on the grip illustrated in Figs. 4, 8, 9 and 10 corresponds to the relatively flat surface portion 23 of the grip illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7. Also, a relatively flat surface portion 28 on the grip illustrated in Figs. 4, 8, 9 and 10 is practically the same as the relatively flat surface portion 24 of the grip illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7. Thus, the relatively flat surface portions 27 and 28 are adapted to serve as guides for determining the proper locations of the thumbs of the right and left hands respectively of a user in gripping the grip of Figs. 4, 8, 9 and 10. It may also be understood that the relatively flat surface portions 27 and 28 serve in substantially the same manner as those previously described for locating the thumbs and also for preventing rotation of the grip in a users hands during a swing or at the time of pact of the ball striking face of the club head with the ball.

Having thus described and disclosed my invention, it will be understood that obvious modifications other than those illustrated in the drawings may be resorted to within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

In a golf club having a shaft with a club head extending laterally from one end thereof, said head being connected at its heel to said shaft and having a ball striking face between its heel and a toe remote from said shaft; an elongated hand grip secured coaxially to the other end of said shaft and tapering down from its free end to a smaller cross-section toward said club head, said hand grip having first and second relatively fiat gripping surfaces extending longitudinally of the grip along a major portion thereof and meeting in an obtuse angle having a vertex pointing in the general direction of the toe of said club head, said first surface engaging the palm of one of the users hands and the thumb of the other hand, said second surface engaging the thumb of said one hand, said grip having a third relatively fiat surface meeting said second surface in an obtuse angle and facing away from said striking face, said third surface engaging the index finger of said other hand, the remainder of the hand grip between said first surface and said third surface being circular in cross-section, at least said second and third surfaces terminating short of said free end to leave the portion of the grip adjacent said free end mostly round, whereby said surfaces automatically orient the club properly in the hands of the user and ensure rigid gripping of the club.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,982,526 Lussky et al Nov. 27, 1934 1,994,556 Winters Mar. 19, 1935 2,149,911 East Mar. 7, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 201,621 Great Britain Aug. 1, 1923- 

